CORONADO, Calif. — Dorothy Gale and Toto may have come from Kansas, but it was San Diego’s coastal community of Coronado that author L. Frank Baum chose for escape.

It is said that the turrets of the town’s iconic Hotel del Coronado inspired the cover artwork for one of the books in the Wizard of Oz series, and that Baum designed the hotel’s crown-shaped ballroom chandeliers. A short story by Baum is set in and around San Diego Bay, while other books by the author use sea caves in nearby La Jolla as a backdrop.

A book jacket here, a lighting fixture there. Who knew the yellow brick road ran right through a California beach town?

Coronado’s unexpected link to the Emerald City will be showcased this summer when Winkie Con, part of a national fan club dedicated to Baum and the Wizard of Oz, holds its 50th annual convention in the San Diego area.

“The place is rich in Oz history,” said David Maxine, executive director of the convention.

Baum’s original book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was published in 1900. A departure from the moralistic children’s stories common in Europe at the time, it became the best-selling children’s book for two years running, making Baum America’s first successful writer of fantasy. Thirteen Oz sequels followed.

The series’ success allowed Baum and his family to escape the harsh winter months of Chicago in California. In 1904, the same year the first of the Oz sequels appeared, Baum landed at the Hotel del Coronado.

Baum loved the beach resort, returning to spend several more winters at the hotel. He interacted with local students, writing a non-Oz short story for the San Diego High School newspaper called “Nelebel’s Fairyland,” a fantasy set in San Diego Bay. A character in one of the later Oz books was named Wobblebug, inspired by a conversation he had with a young girl on the beach about what a crab might be called.

He praised the community to a local newspaper reporter, saying, “Those who do not find Coronado a paradise have doubtless brought with them the same conditions that would render heaven unpleasant to them did they chance to gain admittance.”

In 1905 Baum composed a poem, “Coronado: The Queen of Fairyland,” which further celebrated the locale. “And mortals whisper, wondering: ‘Indeed, ’tis Fairyland!’” he wrote.

In 1909-10, Baum and his family rented a home just a block from the Del (as the hotel is known locally). Located at 1101 Star Park Circle, it is thought to be the only house Baum lived in that is still standing. At least one of the Oz books was written here.

Heidi Wilson of Coronado’s Cultural Arts Commission says Baum left an indelible mark on the city. “If you’ve read the books or seen the movie, and you want to have a sense of what Baum was seeing and living when he was writing, this is the place to come to catch that magic.”

In recent years, the city has embraced its Oz connection. The Coronado Museum of History and Art has on display rare first-edition copies of three of the Oz books. And in 2006, for the 150th anniversary of Baum’s birth, a mural was installed at the entrance to the children’s section of the Coronado Library. Glass panels depict characters from the first book.

There’s one piece of local lore, however, that doesn’t hold up to close scrutiny: the Del’s crown chandeliers, which have long been purported to be the author’s design.

“It would be wonderful to think that they’re Baum’s,” said Maxine. “But the chandeliers were built and installed several years after he died. It doesn’t mean that there isn’t a grain of truth to it — that he might have suggested the concept. But there’s no actual evidence.”

But the other links to Baum and Coronado aren’t hard to imagine, and a convention of Oz fans may be just the way to celebrate the heritage.

David Swanson is a San Diego freelance writer.

When you go

The Coronado Cultural Arts Commission is organizing a series of Baum- and Oz-related events in advance of Winkie Con. Events include theater, film, concerts, exhibitions, lectures, walking tours and a daylong community festival. hungrytigerpress.com/coronado_ozcon_schedule.pdf.

The 50th annual Winkie Con takes place in San Diego Aug. 8-10. In addition to tours of Baum-related local sights, the convention features a costume contest, an exhibition of Judy Garland costumes, quizzes and guest appearances. A highlight will be a performance of The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, a stage musical Baum wrote in 1913. ozconinternational.com.

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